The University of Birmingham is to receive a share of a £67 million investment by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) are a new type of collaboration between institutions announced last week by David Willetts, the Minister for Universities and Science. One of these collaborations will be between Birmingham, Warwick and Leicester.

Willetts said of the investment:

“This £67 million investment in postgraduate training is excellent news for students, research organisations, industry and the UK as a whole. The brightest and best students will be finding solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing us all, from food security through to renewable energy.

“The partnership approach means that many institutions are combining their strengths to provide students with improved training and relevant work experience. This will better equip them for future careers, be it in research, industry, or elsewhere.”

The Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership (MIBTP) will receive £4.5 million from the BBSRC. Match funding from the three universities will enable the partnership to fund up to 90 four-year PhD studentships over the next three academic years in important biological fields such as food security, industrial biotechnology and bio-energy.

An innovative and integral element of the programme, built in to enhance the employability of the DTP students, is the requirement for them to undertake a three- month professional internship outside of the lab to widen their experience of the areas of work in which they can apply their PhD skills and training. Destinations for these internships will include policymaking, media, teaching and industry.